Pharrell Williams, the Virginia Beach-born prince of modern pop, spoke to National Public Radio recently. Parts of that interview were broadcast on Morning Edition today, including Williams' response to complaints about the lyrics to the Robin Thicke megahit "Blurred Lines," a song he co-wrote.

"There's nothing misogynistic about it," he said. "It takes the power from whatever 'man' — if you're looking at the lyrics, the power is right there in the woman's hand. That man — me as a human being, me as a man, I'm not your maker, I can't tell you what to do."

"It was definitely a mixed community, but I feel like that's what sort of made us, too, you know?" he says. "That's sort of why our interests were what they were, because your environment is a huge influence on what you do or what you don't do. There's definitely a huge effect either way. It was definitely multiculti, so I'm very thankful to Virginia for that as well ...

"We're from Virginia Beach, Va. Wonderful place, but it's not Sunset, you know, it's not Broadway — it's another world. It's Normalville, USA. I have to say, I think it's a part of the main ingredient for what it is that we do. There wasn't a huge outlet there. The city — they didn't necessarily promote that."

He also spoke about his synesthesia, a condition that allows him to associate colors with sound.

"Most artists have it. It's no big deal ... it just means that the visual nerve ending and the auditorial nerve ending are still connected. So they send ghost images to each other."